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Published: September 23rd 2023
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Now that the riding is over we can take it easy and rest up, right? Well, that's not how it panned out today. We left the apartment shortly after 8:30am with a list of 6 things to see.
1. The Blue Mosque
2. Topkapi Palace
3. Basilica Cistern
4. Hagia Sofya Mosque
5. Grand Bazaar
6. Galata Tower
Although we had metro cards we plotted a course in google maps that took us to each of these points and started walking.
We first reached the Sultanahmet Area which provided many sights including a couple of obelisks brought from Egypt. We then stood in the line for the Blue Mosque which moved quite quickly. The Blue Mosque is very impressive, most of the mosques are, but this one especially so, not only because of it's size but the internal decoration of it's dome and walls and the umber of stain glass windows. We then moved on to the Topkapi Palace which is where the Sultans ruled the Otterman Empire from for hundreds of years. There were extensive courtyards with many buildings throughout. Council Chambers, Treasury, Kitchens, Royal Bedrooms, Rooms for meeting dignitaries and so
on and so on. We had planned to spend just over an hour there but stayed for two and still only scratched the surface of what was there.
The lines for the Hagia Sofya Mosque and Basilica Cistern were way too long so instead we decided to move on to the Egyptian or Grand Bizaare. This place was enormous, although there seemed be the same five or six different type of shops repeated hundreds of times. I did ask at one shop how much a slice of baklava was, his reply was 500 Turkish Lira. That roughly converts to about $28. I bought the same thing locally last night for 50TL ($2.85), just goes to show you need to know what something is worth before you ask the price. Needless to say we didn't risk buying anything at the market.
From the bazaar, Jeff and Tom were keen to visit the Asian side of the Bosphorus. It took us a little time to find our way to the right station but we eventually caught the train that goes under the Bospherus River to the other side. We had a quick look around, took a few pictures and promptly
jumped on a water taxi hoping it would take us back to the Istanbul side. Which it did, but to the wrong side of the Golden Horn.
At this stage it was about 4:30pm and I for one was feeling quite tired from the sun (33C today) and from walking around all day. I decided to leave Jeff and Tom to themselves and headed off back to the Basilica Cistern via a tram. The line was now quite short and it only took about 15 minutes to get in. The cistern has supplied Istanbul with water for centuries. Water ways from many different places had been constructed to funnel water to the cistern either via natural means or via aqueducts originally built by the Romans and then maintained by the Ottermans. The cistern is an extensive subterranean area under Istanbul with numerous columns supporting the roof with water pooled below. Today the water level is kept quite low and the cistern is actually a museum now rather than an active supply of water to Istanbul.
With weary legs I walked back to the apartment to rest up and meet back up with Jeff and Tom before going out
for dinner.
Tomorrow we have an early start as we will be picked up at 6:15am for our Gallipoli Day Tour. I'm sure it will be a very sombre day as we learn about the courage and sacrifice of those who died on both sides of the war.
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